Actionable business entity operating models to drive user interface behavior

ABSTRACT

A method and system are provided. The method includes providing an actionable business entity operating model. The method further includes extending the actionable business entity operating model to drive user interface behavior on a user interface device having at least a display device, by extending class and property meta classes of the actionable business entity operating model to include user interface behavior semantics. The extending step includes configuring the user interface behavior semantics to be responsive to an operation state of the actionable business entity operating model.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates generally to information processing and,in particular, to actionable business entity operating models to driveuser interface (UI) behavior.

The notion of user interface (UI) on data is well known in the industryand many solutions exist that let data models drive partial or full UIgeneration. The notion of UI configuration is also well known, allowingdevelopers or users to set parameters that define the skin of a UI. Thecurrent state of the art brings these two concepts together for datadriven configurable UI's, developed through UI frameworks and/or codedUI logic. Any action or intelligence in the UI behavior, the navigationthrough the various UI screens, has to be coded by the developer.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect of the present principles, a method is provided.The method includes providing an actionable business entity operatingmodel. The method further includes extending the actionable businessentity operating model to drive user interface behavior on a userinterface device having at least a display device, by extending classand property meta classes of the actionable business entity operatingmodel to include user interface behavior semantics. The extending stepincludes configuring the user interface behavior semantics to beresponsive to an operation state of the actionable business entityoperating model.

According to another aspect of the present principles, a system isprovided. The system includes an actionable business entity operatingmodel provider for providing an actionable business entity operatingmodel. The system further includes a processor-based actionable businessentity operating model extender for extending the actionable businessentity operating model to drive user interface behavior on a userinterface device having at least a display device, by extending classand property meta classes of the actionable business entity operatingmodel to include user interface behavior semantics. The processor-basedactionable business entity operating model extender configures the userinterface behavior semantics to be responsive to an operation state ofactionable business entity operating model.

These and other features and advantages will become apparent from thefollowing detailed description of illustrative embodiments thereof,which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosure will provide details in the following description ofpreferred embodiments with reference to the following figures wherein:

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary defined reference semantic model 100 to whichthe present principles can be applied, in accordance with an embodimentof the present principles;

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary instantiation 200 of the defined referencesemantic model 100 of FIG. 1, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent principles'

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary basic actionable business entity model 300formed from combining the reference semantic model instantiation 200 ofFIG. 2 with a business entity base ontology, in accordance with anembodiment of the present principles;

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary processing system 400 to which the presentprinciples may be applied, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent principles;

FIG. 5 shows an exemplary system 500 for using actionable businessentity operating models to drive UI behavior, in accordance with anembodiment of the present principles.

FIG. 6 shows an exemplary method 600 for adding end-user business entityclasses, in accordance with an embodiment of the present principles;

FIG. 7 shows an exemplary method 700 for defining visibility of semanticobjects, in accordance with an embodiment of the present principles;

FIG. 8 shows an exemplary method 800 for defining a display sequence ofsemantic objects, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentprinciples;

FIG. 9 shows an exemplary method 900 for defining a display name ofsemantic objects, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentprinciples;

FIG. 10 shows an exemplary method 1000 for defining a display width ofsemantic objects, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentprinciples;

FIG. 11 shows an exemplary method 1100 for defining UI editing andcreation rules for semantic objects, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present principles;

FIG. 12 shows an exemplary method 1200 for defining special editors forsemantic objects, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentprinciples;

FIG. 13 shows an exemplary method 1300 for defining which actions in theactionable business entity operating model will have interactions withthe user through the UI, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentprinciples;

FIG. 14 shows an exemplary method 1400 for generating UI (code ordisplay objects) from an enhanced actionable business entity operatingmodel, in accordance with an embodiment of the present principles;

FIG. 15 shows an exemplary method 1500 for defining a document template,in accordance with an embodiment of the present principles;

FIG. 16 shows an exemplary method 1600 for defining a scope within adomain semantic model, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentprinciples;

FIGS. 17-18 show an exemplary method 1700 for generating or regeneratingdocument, in accordance with an embodiment of the present principles;

FIG. 19 shows an exemplary method 1900 for navigating from a documentparameter to a domain ontology object, in accordance with an embodimentof the present principles; and

FIG. 20 shows an exemplary method 2000 for navigating from a domainontology object to a document, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent principles.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present principles are directed to actionable business entityoperating models to drive UI behavior. Advantageously, the presentprinciples address the gap in the current state of the art in that UI'scan be generated on top of data models, but will not have intelligentbehavior, and conversely actionable business entity operating models canbe produced but these do not include sufficient meta data todrive/generate UI behavior.

As used herein, the term “basic actionable business entity operatingmodel” refers to a business entity centric operating model that isdirectly actionable in a computational sense. The basic actionablebusiness entity operating model can be formed by combining a referencesemantic model (or instantiation thereof) with a base business entityontology. The resultant basic actionable business entity operating modelallows for expression of situations and actions pertaining to businessentities. It is to be noted that the defined reference semantic model(once created) is domain specific and the way it is made actionable isdomain neutral (aka, it can be applied to any business domain)]. It isto be appreciated that a basic actionable business entity operatingmodel is without enhancements for specifying UI behavior.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary defined reference semantic model 100 to whichthe present principles can be applied, in accordance with an embodimentof the present principles. The defined reference semantic model 100includes a business entity 110, a distiller 111, and a pipe 112. Thedistiller 111 and pipe 112 are subclasses of the business entity 110.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary instantiation 200 of the defined referencesemantic model 100 of FIG. 1 (hereinafter “reference semantic modelinstantiation”), in accordance with an embodiment of the presentprinciples. The instantiation 200 includes a water distiller 220, anoutput pipe 221, and a feed pipe 222. A temperature sensor 231 is shownrelated to the water distiller 220 through the property of temperature.A feed pressure sensor 232 is shown related to the feed pipe 222 throughthe property of pressure. An output pressure sensor 233 is shown relatedto the output pipe 221 through the property of pressure.

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary basic actionable business entity model 300formed from combining the reference semantic model instantiation 200 ofFIG. 2 with a business entity base ontology, in accordance with anembodiment of the present principles. Hence, a situation 310 thatapplies to a business entity 340 will trigger a decision 320 and/or anaction predicate 330. The decision 320 can also trigger the actionpredicate 330, and vice-versa. The action predicate 330 also applies tothe business entity 340. The business entity 340 has a business entityproperty 350.

Also, as used herein, the term “UI enhanced actionable business entityoperating model” refers to a basic actionable business entity operatingmodel that is extended with semantics for UI behavior.

The present principles extend the capabilities of actionable businessentity operating models by extending such systems in a way that allowsthem to directly drive UI behavior. Furthermore that UI behavior isadjusted depending on the state of the business entities in the businessentity operation model.

The basic mechanism extending actionable business entity operating modelto drive UI behavior is as follows. In any semantic system, thefoundational class and property meta classes are themselves semanticobjects and, as such, can be extended. Semantic systems that can driveUI behavior are created via extending the classical class and propertymeta class definitions to include UI behavior characteristics, therebycompelling semantic models based upon these extended meta classes toinclude UI behavior semantics in addition to the traditional domainsemantics. This is a significant advantage as it allows the direct andintegral definition of the UI aspect of semantic (business) objectsrather than requiring additional steps of transformation and developmentthe way that the data driven UI approach does.

A business value of the present principles includesenhancement/enrichment of any system based on actionable business entityoperating models. The business value is very significantly extended overprior art solutions by driving the business entity operation model toinclude end-user experience as well as treating the end users themselvesas actionable business entities that can permutate the state of theentire system by human decision and action. By extending actionablebusiness entity operating models with intelligent human based entities,it is possible to leverage the fact that not only do humans determinebusiness context better than software based systems, but humans can alsoactively change roles within the system, for instance letting end userswith the appropriate authority intelligently switch roles from operationto auditor and have the operating model driven behavior of the UIimmediate change the UI experience to allow for auditor functionswithout any need to log in or re-identify.

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary processing system 400 to which the presentprinciples may be applied, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent principles. The processing system 400 includes at least oneprocessor (CPU) 404 operatively coupled to other components via a systembus 402. A cache 406, a Read Only Memory (ROM) 408, a Random AccessMemory (RAM) 410, an input/output (I/O) adapter 420, a sound adapter430, a network adapter 440, a user interface adapter 450, and a displayadapter 460, are operatively coupled to the system bus 402.

A first storage device 422 and a second storage device 424 areoperatively coupled to system bus 402 by the I/O adapter 420. Thestorage devices 422 and 424 can be any of a disk storage device (e.g., amagnetic or optical disk storage device), a solid state magnetic device,and so forth. The storage devices 422 and 424 can be the same type ofstorage device or different types of storage devices.

A speaker 432 is operative coupled to system bus 402 by the soundadapter 430.

A transceiver 442 is operatively coupled to system bus 402 by networkadapter 140.

A first user input device 452, a second user input device 454, and athird user input device 456 are operatively coupled to system bus 402 byuser interface adapter 450. The user input devices 452, 454, and 456 canbe any of a keyboard, a mouse, a keypad, an image capture device, amotion sensing device, a microphone, a device incorporating thefunctionality of at least two of the preceding devices, and so forth. Ofcourse, other types of input devices can also be used, while maintainingthe spirit of the present principles. The user input devices 452, 454,and 456 can be the same type of user input device or different types ofuser input devices. The user input devices 452, 454, and 456 are used toinput and output information to and from system 400.

A display device 462 is operatively coupled to system bus 402 by displayadapter 460.

Of course, the processing system 400 may also include other elements(not shown), as readily contemplated by one of skill in the art, as wellas omit certain elements. For example, various other input devicesand/or output devices can be included in processing system 400,depending upon the particular implementation of the same, as readilyunderstood by one of ordinary skill in the art. For example, varioustypes of wireless and/or wired input and/or output devices can be used.Moreover, additional processors, controllers, memories, and so forth, invarious configurations can also be utilized as readily appreciated byone of ordinary skill in the art. These and other variations of theprocessing system 400 are readily contemplated by one of ordinary skillin the art given the teachings of the present principles providedherein.

Moreover, it is to be appreciated that system 500 described below withrespect to FIG. 5 is a system for implementing respective embodiments ofthe present principles. Part or all of processing system 400 may beimplemented in one or more of the elements of system 500.

Further, it is to be appreciated that processing system 400 may performat least part of the method described herein including, for example, atleast part of any of methods 600-1900 of FIGS. 6-20. Similarly, part orall of system 500 may be used to perform at least part of any of methods600-1900 of FIGS. 6-20.

FIG. 5 shows an exemplary system 500 for using actionable businessentity operating models to drive UI behavior, in accordance with anembodiment of the present principles. The system 500 includes anactionable business entity operating model provider 510 and anactionable business entity operating model extender 520.

In an embodiment, the actionable business entity operating modelprovider 510 receives one or more actionable business entity operatingmodels from an external source. In an embodiment, the actionablebusiness entity operating model provider 510 generates one or moreactionable business entity operating models. In an embodiment, theactionable business entity operating model provider 510 stores one ormore actionable business entity operating models.

The actionable business entity operating models provided by theactionable business entity operating model provider 510 can be basicactionable business entity operating models or extended actionablebusiness entity operating models. The extended actionable businessentity operating models provided by the actionable business entityoperating model provider 510 to the actionable business entity operatingmodel extender 520 can be models that were previously extended (by theactionable business entity operating model extender 520) in accordancewith the present principles, but are being further extended. Theactionable business entity operating model extender 520 extendswhichever type (basic or enhanced) of model is input thereto. Suchextension can involve other inputs to the actionable business entityoperating model extender 520 including, but not limited to, a list ofuser roles

In an embodiment, the actionable business entity operating modelextender 520 is processor-based. In an embodiment, the actionablebusiness entity operating model extender 520 receives an actionablebusiness entity operating model from the actionable business entityoperating model provider 510 and extends the same in one or more of themany ways described herein including, for example, with respect tomethods 600-1900 shown and described with respect to FIGS. 6-20. Forexample, the actionable business entity operating model extender 520 canperform functions such as, for example, but not limited to, addingend-user business entity classes, defining visibilities of semanticobjects, defining display sequences of semantic objects, definingdisplay names of semantic objects, defining display widths of semanticobjects, defining UI editing and creation rules for semantic objects,defining special editors for semantic objects, defining which actions inthe actionable business entity operating model will have interactionswith the user through the UI, and generating UI code or display objectsfrom an enhanced actionable business entity operating model.

The system 500 can further include a document manager 530 for use, forexample, in the case when the user interface has the form of aparameterized document. The document manager 530 can perform functionssuch as, for example, but not limited to, defining a document template,defining a scope within a domain semantic model, generating orre-generating a parameterized document, navigating from a documentparameter to a domain ontology object, and navigating from a domainontology object to a document. In an embodiment, the document templatecan be generated in the form of a graph of instance objects based ondocument ontology.

The system 500 can additionally include a user interface renderer 540.The user interface renderer 540 renders a user interface responsive touser interface data. A rendered user interface can then be displayed on,for example, display device 462.

In the embodiment of FIG. 5, the elements of system 500 areinterconnected by a bus 502. However, other arrangements and connectiontypes can also be used, while maintaining the spirit of the presentprinciples. These and other variations to system 500 are readilydetermined by one of ordinary skill in the art given the teachings ofthe present principles provided herein, while maintaining the spirit ofthe present principles.

A description will now be given of activities that can be includedand/or otherwise involved in extending actionable business entityoperating models to drive UI behavior, in accordance with an embodimentof the present principles. It is to be appreciated that all of theactivities are supported by appropriate artifacts, tools and runtimes.

A description will now be given of the activity of adding end-userbusiness entity classes, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentprinciples. This activity can be performed, e.g., at development orconfiguration time.

The input to this activity includes: end user roles that are toparticipate in the actionable operating model; and existing basicactionable business entity operating model.

The output from this activity includes: an end-user enhanced actionablebusiness entity operating model.

End-users can be defined as extension classes in an actionable businessentity operating model. For each such end-user business entity class,the appropriate actions and relationships can be defined, includingprovisioning for actions based on human decision.

FIG. 6 shows an exemplary method 600 for adding end-user business entityclasses, in accordance with an embodiment of the present principles.

At step 610, for each end-user role, add a business entity class.

At step 620, for each end-user class, define the situations in which theend-users need to make a decision or take action.

At step 630, for each defined end-user driven situation, define thepossible actions that the end-user can choose.

A description will now be given of the activity of defining visibilityof semantic objects, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentprinciples. This activity can be performed, e.g., at development orconfiguration time.

The input to this activity includes: a basic or UI enhanced actionablebusiness entity operating model; and list of user roles.

The output from this activity includes: a UI enhanced actionablebusiness entity operating model.

The visibility of semantic objects can be defined at the class, propertyor instance level. At the class level, if visibility is set to true,then all instances of this class are fully visible in the UI (if set tofalse, then similarly invisible). At the property level, if visibilityis set to true, then this property is visible in the UI for allinstances of the corresponding class (if set to false, then similarlyinvisible). At the instance level, if visibility is set to true, thenthis particular (instance) semantic object is visible in the UI (if setto false, then similarly invisible).

FIG. 7 shows an exemplary method 700 for defining visibility of semanticobjects, in accordance with an embodiment of the present principles.

At step 710, define which classes are visible for which user roles.

At step 720, define which properties on classes are visible (for classesthat have not already been defined to be fully visible) for which userroles.

At step 730, define particular (instance) semantics objects that arevisible (for semantic objects that do not already have visibility set totrue at their respective class level) for which user roles.

A description will now be given of the activity of defining a displaysequence of semantic objects, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent principles. This activity can be performed, e.g., at developmentor configuration time.

The input to this activity includes: a basic or UI enhanced actionablebusiness entity operating model.

The output from this activity includes: a UI enhanced actionablebusiness entity operating model.

FIG. 8 shows an exemplary method 800 for defining a display sequence ofsemantic objects, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentprinciples.

At step 810, for each class, define relative display sequence (aka which“number” this class has in the display sequence; multiple classes canhave the same “number”, this will be resolved at runtime).

At step 820, for each property of a class, define relative displaysequence within the class.

A description will now be given of the activity of defining a displayname of semantic objects, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent principles. This activity can be performed, e.g., at developmentor configuration time.

The input to this activity includes: a basic or UI enhanced actionablebusiness entity operating model.

The output from this activity includes: a UI enhanced actionablebusiness entity operating model.

FIG. 9 shows an exemplary method 900 for defining a display name ofsemantic objects, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentprinciples.

At step 910, for each property of a class, define display name (labelthis property will have in front of its value field in the UI).

A description will now be given of the activity of defining a displaywidth of semantic objects, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent principles. This activity can be performed, e.g., at developmentor configuration time.

The input to this activity includes: a basic or UI enhanced actionablebusiness entity operating model.

The output from this activity includes: a UI enhanced actionablebusiness entity operating model.

FIG. 10 shows an exemplary method 1000 for defining a display width ofsemantic objects, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentprinciples.

At step 1010, for each property of a class, define display width (widththis property will have for its value field in the UI).

A description will now be given of the activity of defining UI editingand creation rules for semantic objects, in accordance with anembodiment of the present principles. This activity can be performed,e.g., at development or configuration time.

The input to this activity includes: a basic or UI enhanced actionablebusiness entity operating model; and a list of user roles.

The output from this activity includes: a UI enhanced actionablebusiness entity operating model.

The control of creation or change of semantic objects can be defined atthe class, property or instance level. At the class level, if control isset to true, then all instances of this class are fullycreatable/editable in the UI (if set to false, then similarly not). Atthe property level, if control is set to true, then this property iscreatable/editable in the UI for all instances of the correspondingclass (if set to false, then similarly not). At the instance level, ifcontrol is set to true, then this particular (instance) semantic objectis editable in the UI (if set to false, then similarly not).

FIG. 11 shows an exemplary method 1100 for defining UI editing andcreation rules for semantic objects, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present principles.

At step 1110, define which classes are creatable for which user roles.

At step 1120, define which classes are editable for which user roles.

At step 1130, define which properties on classes are creatable (forclasses that have not already been defined to be fully creatable) forwhich user roles.

At step 1140, define which properties on classes are editable (forclasses that have not already been defined to be fully editable) forwhich user roles.

At step 1150, define particular (instance) semantics objects that areeditable (for semantic objects that do not already have editability setto true at their respective class level) for which user roles.

At step 1160, further limit, where relevant, the ability to create oredit by defining at which lifecycle states each action is possible (notethat the lifecycle states for each type of business entity is defined inthe basic actionable business entity operating model).

A description will now be given of the activity of defining specialeditors for semantic objects, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent principles. This activity can be performed, e.g., at developmentor configuration time.

The input to this activity includes: a basic or UI enhanced actionablebusiness entity operating model.

The output from this activity includes: a UI enhanced actionablebusiness entity operating model.

An assigned special editor will be invoked by the UI for editinginstances of this particular class or property. This is usually aone-to-one correspondence between class or attribute type and specialeditor (e.g. a special editor for date instance objects).

FIG. 12 shows an exemplary method 900 for defining special editors forsemantic objects, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentprinciples.

At step 1210, for select classes, define associated special editors.

At step 1220, for select properties of select classes, define associatedspecial editors.

A description will now be given of the activity of defining whichactions in the actionable business entity operating model will haveinteractions with the user through the UI, in accordance with anembodiment of the present principles. This activity can be performed,e.g., at development or configuration time.

The input to this activity includes: a basic or UI enhanced actionablebusiness entity operating model; and a list of user roles.

The output from this activity includes: a UI enhanced actionablebusiness entity operating model.

The basic actionable business entity operating model defines possibleactions at a business entity type/class level. In the context of a UI,it is necessary to define required user interaction for these actions.

FIG. 13 shows an exemplary method 1300 for defining which actions in theactionable business entity operating model will have interactions withthe user through the UI, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentprinciples.

At step 1310, for each class in the actionable business entity operatingmodel, define which of its actions can be triggered by which user roles.

At step 1320, for each class in the actionable business entity operatingmodel, define which of its actions require UI action by which user rolesin order to execute.

At step 1330, where relevant, further refine the definition of userinteractions by defining user triggering or user intervention perlifecycle state of business entities.

A description will now be given of the activity of generating UI (codeor display objects) from an enhanced actionable business entityoperating model, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentprinciples. This activity can be performed, e.g., at code generation,deploy time or runtime.

The input to this activity includes: an enhanced actionable businessentity operating model.

The output from this activity includes: code for running the UI.

FIG. 14 shows an exemplary method 1400 for generating UI (code ordisplay objects) from an enhanced actionable business entity operatingmodel, in accordance with an embodiment of the present principles.

At step 1410, for each class in the enhanced actionable business entityoperating model, generate data access modules (using classic data accessmodule generation techniques, but using the semantic model as a baserather than a data model).

At step 1420, for each state in the enhanced actionable business entityoperating model, generate screen code that: (1) looks up all classinstances visible in that state; (2) displays a structure of objectscorresponding to the graph of visible class instances, and whereapplicable enforcing the display sequence defined (two instances withsame display sequence “number” assigned will be randomly ordered); (3)for each instance object, read its attributes and display the attributesin the defined display sequence order; (4) generate user role controlsand connect them to the screen code; and (5) connect data access modulesto the screen code.

In the case of a UI interpretation engine, the interpretation steps areanalogous to the code generation steps above, where the interpretationengine simply generates UI objects rather than UI code.

A description will now be given of activities that can be includedand/or otherwise involved in extending actionable business entityoperating models to drive UI behavior in the case where the UI has theform of a parameterized document, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present principles. It is to be appreciated that all of theactivities are supported by appropriate artifacts, tools and runtimes.

A description will now be given of a document ontology defined asfollows, in accordance with an embodiment of the present principles.

Document class with properties

-   -   composedOf: Relationships to the document parts that are part of        a higher level document object    -   isPartOf: Relationships to the higher level document objects        that have this document object as a part    -   documentOrder: The order (increasing integers) in which document        parts are aggregated.    -   generatedDocument: Holds the generated document corresponding to        this document object (supports recursive composition and the        ability to only regenerate when needed) ); can be predefined,        for instance for predefined paragraph text

FullDocument class, subclass of Document, with additional properties

-   -   title: The title of a full document (instances of FullDocument        are intended as “top level” document objects)

Section class, subclass of Document, with additional properties

-   -   title: The title of the corresponding section of a generated        document    -   sectionNumber: The order and sequencing of sections when        generating documents    -   includedifEmpty: Controls whether a section is included if it        has no generated parts (note that with document parts being        potentially optional, even sections that have potential parts        may not have actual parts in a specific document generation        situation)

Paragraph class, subclass of Document, with additional properties

-   -   startsWithNewLine: Indicates whether when generating a document,        a paragraph should begin on a new line or not    -   Features: Relationships to feature objects (used for controlling        optional and alternative document parts)    -   RelatedObjects: Relationships to objects that determine whether        there is a matching feature or not

Feature class with properties:

-   -   featureValue: Used to control allowable document parts, for        instance in some cases both a more strict and a less strict        paragraph may be allowed in a contract document (any document        part with same or higher feature value is allowed as a match to        a domain semantic object with same or lower feature value)

ParameterizedParagraph class, subclass of Paragraph, with additionalproperties:

-   -   textWithParameters: Macro text with named placeholders for        parameter values    -   Parameters: Relationships to the parameter objects corresponding        to the parameters of the ParameterizedParagraph

Parameter class with properties:

-   -   parameterName: Name of parameter, corresponding to named        placeholder in macro text for textWithParameters in a        ParameterizedParagraph    -   SourcedClass: Defines the class from which objects providing the        parameter must be chosen    -   SourcedProperty: Defines the property on SourcedClass object        instances from which the parameter value will be computed    -   SourcedObject: Optionally defines a fixed object providing the        parameter value (rather than choosing between possible matching        instances of SourcedClass)

A description will now be given of the activity of defining a documenttemplate, in accordance with an embodiment of the present principles.

The input to this activity includes: a document ontology; andoptionally, a domain semantic model.

The output from this activity includes: a document template in the formof a graph of instance objects based on the document ontology.

FIG. 15 shows an exemplary method 1500 for defining a document template,in accordance with an embodiment of the present principles.

At step 1510, define ParameterizedParagraph objects, and for each: (1)define the macro text with embedded named parameters; (2) definecorresponding parameter objects and relate them to the paragraph; and(3) optionally set sourcedObject for parameters where the domainsemantic object providing the value is known and fixed.

At step 1520, define paragraph objects with predefined paragraph text asapplicable.

At step 1530, define features and relate the features to optional oralternative paragraphs (and parameterized paragraphs) as applicable.

At step 1540, define section objects.

At step 1550, define the top level FullDocument object.

It is to be noted that the FullDocument objects is the top node for thefull graph of possible document parts. This does not mean that all partswill always be included (see the activity around generating a document),but does mean that non-document parts not in that graph can be part of agenerated document.

A description will now be given of the activity of defining a scopewithin a domain semantic model, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent principles.

The input to this activity includes: a domain semantic model.

The output from this activity includes: a subset of domain semanticmodels to be used for document generation, in the form of one or moreinstance graphs.

This activity is needed in order to practically include the number ofdomain semantic objects that can be used for parameter matching.Typically the scope corresponds to one or more business entities (suchas a contract or a room reservation).

FIG. 16 shows an exemplary method 1600 for defining a scope within adomain semantic model, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentprinciples.

At step 1610, select the objects from the domain semantic model toinclude in the basis for generating documents.

A description will now be given of the activity of generating orregenerating document, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentprinciples.

The input to this activity includes: a document template; and a subsetof domain semantic models to be used for document generation.

The output from this activity includes: a generated interactiveparameterized document.

FIGS. 17-18 show an exemplary method 1700 for generating or regeneratingdocument, in accordance with an embodiment of the present principles.

At step 1710, compile “from the top and down” the graph of documentparts to include, starting with the FullDocument instance object andfollowing the composedOf relationships downstream to sections andparagraphs.

Further regarding step 1710, exclude the paragraphs with associatedfeatures that do not have a feature matched object in the subset domainsemantic model, using a feature match algorithm.

Also regarding step 1710, if a section has no included paragraphs (noneof the optional possibilities were in fact selected/included) and“includedIfEmpty” is for that section is false, then the section itselfis not included in the document.

At step 1720, compute parameter values per parameterized paragraphinstance.

Further regarding step 1720, for each parameter placeholder intextWithParameters find the matching Parameter instance. Each suchParameter instance is processed as follows:

-   -   If the SourcedObject property is set, use the object at the        other end of that relationship    -   If the SourcedObject property is not set, search for all objects        (in the subset domain model object graph) of the appropriate        class type corresponding to the SourcedClass property on the        Parameter instance        -   If none are found, flag an error        -   If exactly one is found, set SourcedObject to that one and            proceed        -   If more than one match is found ask the user (by “name”)            which one to select

Also regarding step 1720, SourcedObject is now set on all Parameterinstances. For each Parameter instance compute the document equivalentof the object at the other end of the SourcedObject relationship.

Additionally regarding step 1720, merge parameter values into thegenerated document (remembering their origin parameter to support laternavigation back to the underlying domain semantic object) and setgeneratedDocument for the parameterized paragraph instance to be theresult of that merge (by value, not by reference).

At step 1730, traverse the graph of included document parts bottom upand at each new node compute and set generatedDocument through combiningthe generatedDocument values on each of the lower level document partsrelated through the ComposedOf property.

At the end of this process, the resulting generated document is thevalue of the generatedDocument property on the FullDocument instanceobject in the document template. Note that document generation can behuman or system triggered, including possibly triggered automaticallywhen a user switches to a “document view” of a domain semantic modelthat he or she is working on (i.e. navigating from semantic object togenerated document)

A description will now be given of a feature match algorithm, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present principles.

If a paragraph does not have an associated feature, then it is alwayspart of the document. This supports predefined mandatory paragraphs

If the paragraph has one or more associated features, then it is onlypart of the document if it also has at least one associated “relatedobject”. This supports the use of “optional paragraphs”, i.e., they areonly included in the document if in fact an object exists in the subsetdomain semantic model that “binds” to them.

Semantic objects in the subset domain semantic model can have definedfeature properties (relationships to Feature instances) and “matches”(aka RelatedObject relationships) with paragraphs (that have features)are computed as follows. If there, given the features defined on thedomain semantic object, is only one possible paragraph match in thedocument template then establish relationships (both directions) to thatparagraph. If there is more than one option there is already a featurematch relationship (on RelatedObjects) and that option is still viable(given the now assigned features), do not do anything (i.e. existingmatch remains). Otherwise, if there is more than one possibility, askthe user which paragraph to bind to (by “name”). It is to be noted thatonly paragraph objects that are part of the document template objectgraph are applicable to be selected.

A description will now be given of the activity of navigating from adocument parameter to a domain ontology object, in accordance with anembodiment of the present principles.

The input to this activity includes: a generated document; and a subsetof domain semantic models that was used for document generation.

FIG. 19 shows an exemplary method 1900 for navigating from a documentparameter to a domain ontology object, in accordance with an embodimentof the present principles.

At step 1910, select (by the user) a parameter (macro point) in thegenerated document.

At step 1920, activate (by the user) the navigation to the underlyingdomain semantic model object.

At step 1930, look up (by the system) the Parameter instance associatedwith the parameter (macro point) in the generated document and navigateto the domain semantic model object referred to by the SourcedObjectproperty of the Parameter instance.

A description will now be given of the activity of navigating from adomain ontology object to a document, in accordance with an embodimentof the present principles.

The input to this activity includes: a generated document; and a subsetof domain semantic models that was used for document generation.

FIG. 20 shows an exemplary method 2000 for navigating from a domainontology object to a document, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent principles.

At step 2010, select (by the user) a domain semantic model object andactivate the navigation to the generated document.

At step 2020, find (by the system) the Parameter instance associatedwith the selected domain semantic model object (if no such Parameterinstance exists, the domain semantic model object is not the base for aparameter and an error is returned) and navigate to the generateddocument, positioning the user at the parameter (macro point) in thegenerated document.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product. The computer program product may include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like,and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

Reference in the specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” ofthe present principles, as well as other variations thereof, means thata particular feature, structure, characteristic, and so forth describedin connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodimentof the present principles. Thus, the appearances of the phrase “in oneembodiment” or “in an embodiment”, as well any other variations,appearing in various places throughout the specification are notnecessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

It is to be appreciated that the use of any of the following “/”,“and/or”, and “at least one of”, for example, in the cases of “A/B”, “Aand/or B” and “at least one of A and B”, is intended to encompass theselection of the first listed option (A) only, or the selection of thesecond listed option (B) only, or the selection of both options (A andB). As a further example, in the cases of “A, B, and/or C” and “at leastone of A, B, and C”, such phrasing is intended to encompass theselection of the first listed option (A) only, or the selection of thesecond listed option (B) only, or the selection of the third listedoption (C) only, or the selection of the first and the second listedoptions (A and B) only, or the selection of the first and third listedoptions (A and C) only, or the selection of the second and third listedoptions (B and C) only, or the selection of all three options (A and Band C). This may be extended, as readily apparent by one of ordinaryskill in this and related arts, for as many items listed.

Having described preferred embodiments of a system and method (which areintended to be illustrative and not limiting), it is noted thatmodifications and variations can be made by persons skilled in the artin light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood thatchanges may be made in the particular embodiments disclosed which arewithin the scope of the invention as outlined by the appended claims.Having thus described aspects of the invention, with the details andparticularity required by the patent laws, what is claimed and desiredprotected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims.

1. A system, comprising: an actionable business entity operating modelprovider for providing an actionable business entity operating model;and a processor-based actionable business entity operating modelextender for extending the actionable business entity operating model todrive user interface behavior on a user interface device having at leasta display device, by extending class and property meta classes of theactionable business entity operating model to include user interfacebehavior semantics and by defining which particular actions areexecutable at each of one or more particular lifecycle states at a classlevel, wherein said processor-based actionable business entity operatingmodel extender configures the user interface behavior semantics to beresponsive to an operation state of actionable business entity operatingmodel.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the user interface behaviorsemantics comprise actions in the actionable business entity operatingmodel which have a respective corresponding interaction with a user, andwherein the actions in the actionable business entity operating modelwhich have the respective corresponding interaction with the user arevariable responsive to a lifecycle state of a business entity instance.3. The system of claim 1, wherein the user interface comprises a form ofan interactive parameterized document.
 4. The system of claim 3, whereinportions of the interactive parameterized document are expressed asobjects in a document ontology.
 5. The system of claim 3, whereinparameters of the interactive parameterized document are expressed asobjects in a document ontology and related to domain ontology objectsthat provide values for the parameters.
 6. The system of claim 1,wherein the actionable business entity operating model comprises aplurality of classes, and said processor-based actionable businessentity operating model extender extends the actionable business entityoperating model to drive the user interface behavior by defining adisplay sequence for the user interface as a pseudo number a respectiveone of the plurality of classes has in the display sequence, whereinmultiple classes from among the plurality of classes can have a samepseudo number that is resolvable at a runtime, and each of a pluralityof class properties defines a relative display sequence within arespective one of the plurality of classes.
 7. The system of claim 1,wherein the user interface behavior semantics include at least one of anobject visibility, an attribute visibility, a display sequence, adisplay name, a display width, a user editing rule, a user creationrule, and a special editor use.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein theuser interface behavior semantics comprise an ability to control atwhich lifecycle state of semantic objects in a resulting extendedactionable business entity operating model, particular aspects of thesemantic objects can be manipulated in the user interface.
 9. Anon-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising a computerreadable program, wherein the computer readable program when executed ona computer causes the computer to perform the steps of: providing anactionable business entity operating model; and extending the actionablebusiness entity operating model to drive user interface behavior on auser interface device having at least a display device, by extendingclass and property meta classes of the actionable business entityoperating model to include user interface behavior semantics and bydefining which particular actions are executable at each of one or moreparticular lifecycle states at a class level, wherein saidprocessor-based actionable business entity operating model extenderconfigures the user interface behavior semantics to be responsive to anoperation state of actionable business entity operating model.
 10. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein theuser interface behavior semantics comprise actions in the actionablebusiness entity operating model which have a respective correspondinginteraction with a user, and wherein the actions in the actionablebusiness entity operating model which have the respective correspondinginteraction with the user are variable responsive to a lifecycle stateof a business entity instance.
 11. The non-transitory computer readablestorage medium of claim 9, wherein the user interface comprises a formof an interactive parameterized document.
 12. The non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein portions of theinteractive parameterized document are expressed as objects in adocument ontology.
 13. The non-transitory computer readable storagemedium of claim 11, wherein parameters of the interactive parameterizeddocument are expressed as objects in a document ontology and related todomain ontology objects that provide values for the parameters.
 14. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein theactionable business entity operating model comprises a plurality ofclasses, and said processor-based actionable business entity operatingmodel extender extends the actionable business entity operating model todrive the user interface behavior by defining a display sequence for theuser interface as a pseudo number a respective one of the plurality ofclasses has in the display sequence, wherein multiple classes from amongthe plurality of classes can have a same pseudo number that isresolvable at a runtime, and each of a plurality of class propertiesdefines a relative display sequence within a respective one of theplurality of classes.
 15. The non-transitory computer readable storagemedium of claim 9, wherein the user interface behavior semantics includeat least one of an object visibility, an attribute visibility, a displaysequence, a display name, a display width, a user editing rule, a usercreation rule, and a special editor use.
 16. The non-transitory computerreadable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the user interface behaviorsemantics comprise an ability to control at which lifecycle state ofsemantic objects in a resulting extended actionable business entityoperating model, particular aspects of the semantic objects can bemanipulated in the user interface.
 17. A system, comprising: anactionable business entity operating model provider for providing anactionable business entity operating model; and a processor-basedactionable business entity operating model extender for extending theactionable business entity operating model to drive user interfacebehavior on a user interface device having at least a display device, byextending class and property meta classes of the actionable businessentity operating model to include user interface behavior semantics andby defining rules for editing semantic objects based on the userinterface behavior semantics, wherein said processor-based actionablebusiness entity operating model extender configures the user interfacebehavior semantics to be responsive to an operation state of actionablebusiness entity operating model.
 18. The system of claim 17, wherein theuser interface behavior semantics comprise actions in the actionablebusiness entity operating model which have a respective correspondinginteraction with a user, and wherein the actions in the actionablebusiness entity operating model which have the respective correspondinginteraction with the user are variable responsive to a lifecycle stateof a business entity instance.
 19. The system of claim 17, wherein theuser interface comprises a form of an interactive parameterizeddocument.
 20. The system of claim 17, wherein the actionable businessentity operating model comprises a plurality of classes, and saidprocessor-based actionable business entity operating model extenderextends the actionable business entity operating model to drive the userinterface behavior by defining a display sequence for the user interfaceas a pseudo number a respective one of the plurality of classes has inthe display sequence, wherein multiple classes from among the pluralityof classes can have a same pseudo number that is resolvable at aruntime, and each of a plurality of class properties defines a relativedisplay sequence within a respective one of the plurality of classes.